AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa on Sunday flayed the Sri Lankan government's move to declare Kachchativu, an islet ceded to it by India in 1974, as a 'sacred area', saying it belonged to India and demanded its retrieval.

Kachchativu, situated in the Palk Straits between Sri Lanka and India, has been in the limelight in recent past as fishermen from Tamil Nadu at times are attacked allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy, causing casualties which has led to protests by political parties in Tamil Nadu.